Later, when your maid demure, Long of lash and coy of mien, Seemed a conquest swift and sure, Fiercer monsters stepped between: Mrs. Grundies, grey and grim, Kept Miss Proper closely tied; Beaus dissolved before the prim Portly dragon at her side. Now there dawns a lighter day; Chaperons are nearly dead; Undefended lies the way For your amorous wight to tread, Yet we still must pay our toll, We who woo the guarded rose: Frightful at the very goal Lurks the dragon _by her nose_. Modern maidens, if upon Cheeks that court the curious stare Voluntarily you don This insane pictorial wear, Know your tricks intrigue us not, Frankly, ladies, they appal; Out, I say, out, damned spot! We don't like your cheek at all. * * * * * THE SULTAN OF MOROCCO. "It was here yesterday," I said. "I am quite sure I saw it." "Saw what?" said the lady of the house. "A letter," I said, "that required an answer." "Well," she said, "there are about fifty letters of that kind on your table there. Why don't you answer some of those? You can take your pick of them." "Those are different," I said. "They've waited a long time, and it won't hurt them to wait a little longer. The one I want came yesterday, and required an immediate answer. I remember it quite distinctly." "Why not answer it, then, without finding it? I'll dictate to you:--'Dear Sir or Madam,--In answer to your obliging letter, I beg to say that I much regret I shall be unable to attend the meeting of the blank committee on the blank of blank, owing to a previous engagement to be present at the meeting of the blank association for the blank blank blank. I enclose herewith my subscription of blank, and remain, with apologies for my delay, yours blankly, etc., etc.' Fire away; you can't go wrong." "I am not sure," I said, "that I like all those blanks. It's a good model, of course, but it's just a bit too sketchy." "If you remember the letter so perfectly you can fill in the blanks as you go along." "I didn't say I remembered it so perfectly as all that. I remember getting it. I remember it was marked 'Urgent and confidential' or 'Private and immediate,' or something of that kind, and I remember putting it down on this writing-table and making up my mind to answer it at once, but I don't remember who it was from----" "_Whom_ it was from." "Amiable pedant! I don't remember who my importunate correspondent was, or what address he or she wrote from, or what it was about. It was one of those letters that produce a general sense of discomfort, the sort you want to forget but can't." "Oh, but _you_ can. I never heard of anything so completely forgotten as this unfortunate letter."